Equilibrium
by Hikari-san42
Summary: "Sonic, you're so busy looking out there that you're missing the point. Your life belongs to you." Sonic spends a bit too much time staring out windows on his birthday and Tails is sick of it. /A fic in honor of Sonic's 23rd anniversary./


_Equilibrium – _a fic dedicated to Sonic the Hedgehog's 23rd birthday.

_Timeline:_ Sonic is 23 and Tails is 15.

_Rating: _K+

**Warnings:** None, though somehow I managed to make Sonic and Tails super pretentious and they might be ooc?

**Notes:** I did it! I finished before the day was up! Whoo, once again I waited until the last minute to write something for Sonic's birthday. It's a horrible habit. Originally, I planned on writing something funny involving Sonic and a crown and cape (because of the Joyopolis statue), but I was feeling very introverted and thoughtful today, so Sonic kinda followed my lead. This thing might not make sense because I wasn't sure where I was going with it, but the ending pulls it all together (I hope). I kinda spewed morality all over this like some kinda damn shonen anime but live and learn.

Disclaimer: I might possibly be in love in fifteen-year-old Tails, so if I owned Sonic he would be at least that old. That being said, all recognizable material belongs to SEGA.

Happy birthday Sonic! Forward we go!

* * *

Sonic wasn't usually sentimental. His life was full of challenges and it was impossible for every single issue to have a happy ending. He had to compartmentalize, forget about the bad, focus on the good, and keep moving forward or else he would spiral into a pit of depression and self doubt that he could never get out of. It wasn't in his nature to over think things; he always leapt without thinking and fixed any problems he ran into on the way. He took things in stride and never, ever second guessed himself. He moved far too fast for second thoughts. His instincts were well refined from use and his morals were a strong guiding force. He was a creature that lived in the now. The past didn't matter, and the future was always flexible.

Yet, despite all of this, he always found himself lodged in a state of sentimentality on his birthday. A late spring day that should have been reserved for running and joking around had been wrenched into pieces by a sappy need to sit and brood over everything that had occurred since he was ten years old. He always found himself in the large bay window in the workshop, watching the sunset over the ocean. Even if he managed to weasel a few good hours out of the day, spending time with Tails, cutting cake, opening one or two presents with friends that stopped by, he still carved out time at the end of the day to rest his forehead against the glass, green eyes staring at the crystalline water and breath fogging the window.

As the sun set at the beginning of his twenty-third year, his thoughts went back to that first day, thirteen years ago, when he was only a child with dreams bigger than his head, facing down a megalomaniac with a mechanical army and a plan to take over the world. He had been so naive – hell, he still was, if he was honest with himself – but he was the only one that _could_, and someone had to step up. He had left his childhood behind that day, laid it to rest amongst the remains of Green Hill Zone, and become the hero mobius needed.

Usually, he wasn't this morbid or thoughtful, but there was something about his birthday – the anniversary of that first battle – that brought out the calm, quiet Sonic that lay dormant for the rest of the year. Thinking back on it, his birthday had always been reserved as a meditative day, a day to celebrate his life but also to think about his actions. He had to recognize everything he had done, both the good and the bad, and remember why he had acted the way he had. There wasn't time for regrets, but there was time for acknowledgement and sentimentality.

The truth was, Sonic never considered his birthday as only _his_. It belonged to everyone – the people that depended on him, the friends that risked their lives alongside him – a day of celebration to commemorate the struggle that the planet went through on a daily basis. A birthday was never meant for one person; it was a celebration for everyone touched by that life, and his was no exception.

Tails had once said that lives were energy, effort put into things that resulted in observable changes. Every life contributed to the sea of power that flowed through their planet, influencing ripples of change with every action and decision. His own life was no different, though his decisions were weighted differently, far more dangerous in the here and now. While most people worried about their future careers or love interests, he stayed awake at night worrying about Eggman's next move and hoping he would make the right decisions along the way. He didn't want another Station Square – submerged and half gone in the wake of his failures – but he didn't have enough time to plan and worry. His life energy couldn't be reserved for what ifs; it could only be spent on split second decisions.

Two decades of life had left him with a lot of things to be sentimental about, nothing more so than his time traveling the world, protecting everyone that needed protecting, and he didn't regret any of his decisions. In fact—

"Brooding again, are we?" A quiet voice called him from his thoughts. He blinked, gaze focusing on the distant disk of sun painting colors across the canvases of sky and sea, before turning his eyes away from the window. Tails was standing at the edge of the window, holding two cups of a steaming liquid, watching him with a thoughtful look on his face. He grinned when Sonic's attention rested on him and he extended one of the mugs toward his friend. The faint smell of chocolate tickled Sonic's nose and he happily accepted it, blinking down at the hot cocoa that warmed his hands through the ceramic. The fox settled himself on the edge of the window seat, pulling his long legs into his chest to allow himself room.

The years had been kind to the fox, leaving the fifteen-year-old taller than Sonic by three or four inches. His eyes were the same blue, a fusion of mischief and intelligence that made him the sharp study and sarcastic brat that Sonic adored. He spent just as much time in the workshop as he did when he was younger, but independence had come with age, gifting the fox with the confidence to believe in himself. He didn't lean on Sonic as much anymore, something that made the hedgehog both proud and a bit sad – he would be lying if he said he didn't miss those days where the fox relied on him for nearly everything. Now, though, Tails was more of an equal than a burden; he could handle himself in a fight and knew just what to say when Sonic was being boorish and hardheaded. They made a great team, and he was the only person that Sonic allowed to see him at his worst.

"You know, a birthday is better suited for celebrating," the teen muttered lowly as he blew on his drink.

Sonic hummed in return and sipped at the cocoa. The sun was dipping below the horizon, returning to the other side of the planet to start a new day. A new beginning for everyone, more energy to release, lives to impact and change. He sighed low in his throat. "Some people celebrate differently than others."

Tails' cerulean eyes were watching him, scrutinizing every small nuance in a way that only came with years of practice. Those orbs reminded Sonic of the ocean, an apt metaphor for a child that could and would change the world. The sea was freedom and death; a slippery prison that had tried and failed to keep him in its clutches, but also the cradle of life, provider and reaper. "It's tradition, you know?" Tails paused, and Sonic inclined his head, expression confused. "You always hide yourself away on your birthday to contemplate your place in the universe and, after about an hour and a half, I come forth bearing gifts of hot cocoa and sage words of wisdom. We've got the cocoa, but I'm all out of astute proclamations."

One of Sonic's eyes ridges rose. "Really? My little motor mouth doesn't have a single nugget of insight for me?"

"I'm not the type to wax eloquently about the morality of the seaside sunset."

Sonic's eye ridge fell to meet its twin in a furrow. "Are you making fun of me?"

Tails' free hand rose in an innocent gesture. "I'm simply pointing out that you spend a large chunk of your birthday staring out the window, trying to divine the meaning of your life. I realized this year that I've been sorta facilitating you when I come along and give you something to stew over; I'm not gonna do that anymore."

Sonic's brow furrowed further. "I'm not— You're— What?"

"Sonic," the fox sighed, blowing his bangs away from his eyes, "you're so busy looking out there," he gestured toward the horizon, where the sun was nothing more than a dim light, "that you're missing the point. Your life, your _birthday_, belongs to you. You don't owe mobius your life or your regret. You're a hero, you're selfless, but you don't have to spend the one day that's supposed to be _about you_ thinking about everyone else."

Sonic stared at Tails, stewing over his words. The truth was, he never took credit for anything. Every time someone tried to thank him for saving them, he waved them off, giving them a 'It's not problem!' or 'Too easy!' because, at the end of the day, he didn't want anyone to feel obligated to him. He was doing this for mobius – not for notoriety or thanks. He _was _selfless, perhaps to a fault. Tails was right, of course. His birthday was quite possibly the only day where he could relax and not dodge the spotlight. Birthdays were meant to celebrate a life – his life; the life he had given so freely to the protection of his home and the people who inhabited it. Yes, once upon a time ago he had given even that day to that cause, fighting back in Green Hill on the day he turned ten, but that was thirteen years ago. A decade later and he could afford to be a little selfish.

"So you're telling me that the moral I should take away from this is that I should be selfish?"

Tails huffed, rolling his eyes and looking down at his cocoa. "Too much of anything is bad, Sonic – including selfless self sacrifice."

Sonic grinned at Tails' agitation. "Got it. I'll make sure to be more selfish from now on. Me me me me me."

Tails rolled his eyes again, this time going so far as to groan as well. "Look, Sonic, the world works through equilibrium." He motioned toward the window, where the sun was simply a memory now. "Night and day, the seasons, the tides... It all works to keep everything balanced. We have to do the same in our lives. Selfishness and selflessness are two sides of the same coin, and you need both to buy a chili dog. You get me?"

Sonic sipped at his drink to buy himself a few seconds to get his thoughts in order. "When did you get so smart?"

Tails' eyes rolled for a third time. "Since last Tuesday."

"No, I think you've been an unintentional genius for years now." He leaned forward and lightly cuffed the kid across the top of his head. "I've just been too dense to listen."

"Can't argue with that."

"C'mon, let's go get some dinner and then maybe head into Station Square to see what kinda party they have going on in my honor."

Tails grinned. "You're a quick learner."

"Nah, I just need some equilibrium."

* * *

_Ha, I might possibly hate this tomorrow. _

_Reviews are cherished. _


End file.
